Champions Series Stars To Stud: Cracksman

In the first of a new series, we analyse the career of the two-time QIPCO Champion Stakes winner and wonder what might follow next.

CAREER DETAILS:.

Races: 11. Wins:8. Champions Series wins: 3. Prize-money: £2,793,064.

Cracksman was among the first crop of the flawless Frankel and did his best to revive memories of his famous sire during a colourful and decorated three-season career.

Bred and owned by Anthony Oppenheimer, he won eight of his 11 races with his victories including stunning back-to-back triumphs in the QIPCO Champion Stakes on QIPCO British Champions Day in 2017 and 2018.

“I think we need to concentrate his mind, as we know the ability is there,” Gosden said after that unexpected reverse. “To my mind, he is just playing around a little bit. At no stage today was he travelling or carrying Frankie. The ability was there but I didn’t feel he was being exactly generous with it today.”

Having been rated 130 at the end of his three-year-old campaign, Cracksman’s mark had slipped to 125 and he missed races – notably the King George – because the ground was deemed too fast.

Cracksman surged clear in the straight and left two top-class rivals, Poet’s Word and Highland Reel, trailing in his wake.

He clocked the fastest final furlong of any horse in action on the card – including the sprinters.

Perhaps, 12 months later, the opposition was not quite so deep. And we were half-expecting what might happen.

WHAT THEY SAID:

“He can be laid back but today he travelled like a good horse. I kicked on and he just galloped right away – it was a fantastic feeling.”

Frankie Dettori after Cracksman’s first Champion Stakes win

“When Cracksman is in the zone, he is a very good horse. He is Frankel’s best son and it is lovely to see him back with a bang.”

John Gosden after Cracksman’s second Champion Stakes win

WHERE HE WILL STAND:

Cracksman will stand at Darley’s Dalham Hall Stud with his initial covering fee set at £25,000. He should find himself in plenty of demand at the price. Frankel’s covering fee stands at £175,000.

WHAT SHOULD WE EXPECT FROM HIS OFFSPRING?:

There is no doubt that Cracksman, a grand type physically who stands 16.1 hands, is an exciting addition to the stallion ranks and his offspring are bound to create plenty of excitement.

Frankel is stamping his stock with plenty of stamina and perhaps Cracksman will do the same, for all he himself had the speed to win over a mile first time out as a two-year-old.

A powerful galloper, he might well have been effective over further than a mile and a half had he been given the opportunity.

The fact that he raced a little lazily on occasions as a four-year-old and ended up wearing headgear might make some a little wary but you don’t end up being a European champion at three and four without having bundles of ability.

His progeny will have a better chance of coping with soft ground better than most if following family patterns.

Cracksman put up his very best efforts on testing going, while his dam, Rhadegunda, relished soft ground. Frankel seemed impervious to the going and the stock of Pivotal, grandsire of Cracksman, also act well on an easy surface.